Auction 61 - Rare and Important Items
Manuscript - Laws of Shechita and Terefot and Verses for Sefirat HaOmer - Italy, 16th Century
Opening: $1,000
Sold for: $1,750
Including buyer's premium
Manuscript, laws of shechita and terefot, with questions and answers regarding these laws and verses for Sefirat HaOmer. [Italy, ca. second half of the 16th century].
Cursive Italian script, on thick high-quality paper (watermark on one leaf concurring with paper produced in Germany in the mid-16th century).
At the beginning of the manuscript is a brief composition on the laws of shechita and terefot by an anonymous author. This is followed by questions and short answers for testing proficiency in these laws.
P. [26b] opens with a special compilation of verses which allude to the numbers 1-49, corresponding to the days of the Counting of the Omer. This conforms to a well-known custom of noting the number of each day of counting by means of a verse. [This custom is cited in the book Mo'ed David by R. David Meldola, Amsterdam 5500: "Scribes had the custom of writing, on letters which they wrote to loved ones or to relatives during the period of Sefirat HaOmer, a verse from the Torah or Scriptures which alluded to the number of that day of counting instead of writing the number…". The manuscript attests that this custom had already been practiced in earlier times]. Most of the numbers have a large and varied selection of verses. Including the source of each verse.
The parchment binding of the manuscript was made from a part of an ancient Latin manuscript.
46 leaves. 13.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, traces of dampness. Faded ink in several places. Worming to some leaves, affecting the text in several places. Contemporary damaged parchment binding.
Cursive Italian script, on thick high-quality paper (watermark on one leaf concurring with paper produced in Germany in the mid-16th century).
At the beginning of the manuscript is a brief composition on the laws of shechita and terefot by an anonymous author. This is followed by questions and short answers for testing proficiency in these laws.
P. [26b] opens with a special compilation of verses which allude to the numbers 1-49, corresponding to the days of the Counting of the Omer. This conforms to a well-known custom of noting the number of each day of counting by means of a verse. [This custom is cited in the book Mo'ed David by R. David Meldola, Amsterdam 5500: "Scribes had the custom of writing, on letters which they wrote to loved ones or to relatives during the period of Sefirat HaOmer, a verse from the Torah or Scriptures which alluded to the number of that day of counting instead of writing the number…". The manuscript attests that this custom had already been practiced in earlier times]. Most of the numbers have a large and varied selection of verses. Including the source of each verse.
The parchment binding of the manuscript was made from a part of an ancient Latin manuscript.
46 leaves. 13.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, traces of dampness. Faded ink in several places. Worming to some leaves, affecting the text in several places. Contemporary damaged parchment binding.